THE row between Nato allies the United States and Turkey escalated further yesterday, when Ankara accused Washington of laying plans for a “safe zone” covering much of northern Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had floated the idea of a 19-mile-deep “safe zone” south of the Turkish-Syrian border.

That territory is largely controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, which enjoys US support even though it is a sister organisation of Turkey’s banned Kurdistan Workers Party, designated a terrorist group by Washington and EU nations.